Never Forget You
by Janiqua
Summary: This is an extension to Forget Me Not. When Leo asks Chris to take on another charge, the half Whitelighter is shocked to see that the 'charge' in question is a woman that he knew in the future. ONESHOT!


"Chris Crossed" was my absolute favorite episode, but then I later saw a repeat of "Forget Me Not", and I was so disappointed with how Chris was so willing to be Natalie's Whitelighter like a minute after he first saw her. I just needed to find a way to explain that, and so that's exactly what I've finally been able to do. Please tell me what you think about it!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Charmed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"You're kidding, right? I don't have time for another charge."

P3 in the morning was generally a pretty abandoned place, but that morning two men were sitting at the bar there discussing something that probably wouldn't be taken very well if it were to be discussed anywhere else. One man looked to be in his thirties, and the other looked to be around twenty, still just a boy. But both were considering each other seriously, and considering the subject of their conversation, it was no wonder they were meeting in an abandoned P3 rather than a bustling café somewhere out there in the middle of San Francisco.

Leo was frowning at the younger Whitelighter. "Why not?"

_Why not?_ Chris stared at the Elder in obvious incredulity. He couldn't believe this! Was it any wonder why he had banished the guy to Valhalla? Leo just couldn't stop butting in! "Because I just don't! Why do you want me to oversee another witch, anyway?"

Leo shifted on the stool he sat on, staring at Chris challengingly. "Because I wanna see what you can do, what you can handle." He spoke as if he wanted to test the boy, and that this was nothing more than a way for him to discover Chris's strengths and weaknesses in order to better place him on the 'team'. Chris didn't buy it. He knew Leo way too well.

"Oh please. You just don't want me around the sisters all the time, 'cause you don't trust me," he stated, not without some bitterness.

Leo let out a frustrated breath. "Chris, protecting charges is what we do. Besides, when I was a Whitelighter, I had other charges."

_Yeah, but you weren't on a crucial mission to change the future and save your older brother._ Chris glowered at the man no one in this time knew was his own father. "Leo, I didn't come all the way from the future to protect and oversee other charges. I came for one reason and one reason only."

Leo nodded, knowingly. "To protect Wyatt." He had heard this before.

Chris nodded, feeling some, but very, very little, satisfaction. "Yeah." Maybe this time Leo would finally accept that and get off his back.

But that wasn't the case. It was never the case. Chris should have expected that as Leo grew slightly more hostile. "From some demon who will attack in the future, but you're not sure which one."

Chris somehow managed not to lash out at the Elder in his own growing frustration. Instead, he prepared to do this the old fashioned way. Get in the last word and storm out. "Hey man, fine. Whatever. Don't believe me. All I'm saying is there is no way I'm taking on another charge and that's…" During that last little tirade, Chris had stood and turned towards the door. But he had done so in time to see a woman enter the club. She was a very tiny and pretty blonde, and even from a distance, Chris could see the life shining in her eyes… Eyes that he recognized. Chris was stunned when he saw a woman he had never expected to see again. "That."

The woman was walking straight towards them, looking at Leo with an apologetic expression on her pretty face. "Hi, Leo, sorry I'm late."

Leo was looking at the woman casually, hardly concerned, and with none of the frustration he had been feeling a moment ago visible on his own face. "That's okay."

The woman turned towards the younger Whitelighter. "You must be Chris. I'm Natalie."

But Chris had already known that. He had known Natalie when he had been a kid. Sixteen years old. A teenager with hormones, Chris remembered the first time he saw the blonde witch, who, in a world where evil pretty much reigned supreme, had shown him an unprecedented amount of kindness. He had been infatuated with her, for even in twenty years, Natalie was still as gorgeous as she was today. And in twenty years, kindness and beauty made even such an older woman seductive.

Chris's friendship with Natalie had never grown into anything outside his imagination, and the whole infatuation had ended long before he ever met Bianca. When Chris had been seventeen, Natalie had… But he didn't want to think about that. The only thing he _could_ think about was that this amazing woman was standing before him when he had long ago accepted that he would never see her again. Even when he had returned to the past almost two months ago, not even once had he thought about seeing her here.

Chris glanced at Leo, still too stunned to keep up with his indifferent act. "Maybe just one more." Despite everything, the prospect of getting to be with Natalie again for _any_ amount of time was too desirable for him to deny.

For the first time, Chris didn't care that Leo was nodding at him with a triumphant gleam in his eyes.

OOOOOOOOOO

When Leo had finally left, Chris and Natalie sat alone together in P3. The Elder had told them to get to know each other, and promised that if they needed him, he'd be available. But at the moment, the only thing the two of them needed was a serious subject for conversation. Neither looked at the other, as they were staring instead at the counter in front of them. For a moment, an awkward silence reigned.

_Maybe this was a bad idea,_ Chris thought to himself. Natalie had been a good friend in the future, but here, right now, she didn't even know him. He glanced at her uncertainly. "So. How much has Leo told you about me?"

She looked up with her charming smile, exactly as he remembered. Only this time, he could tell that it was forced. "Oh you know. He said you're from the future or something, and that you're a newbie and only have three other charges."

Chris rolled his eyes. Typical. "Yeah. There's Leo for you."

Natalie stared at him curiously. "What have you got against Leo?" Chris glanced at her and remembered how Natalie was once one of Leo's charges. Doing some quick math, Chris decided that from this point in time, Natalie had become a witch four years ago, when she had been eighteen. Leo had only been her Whitelighter for about two months before another guardian had been assigned to her. Leo had at that point wanted to focus more on the Charmed Ones.

"Where I've been concerned," Chris told her honestly. "He can be a controlling, suspicious jerk."

"Does he have reason to be?" Natalie asked. Chris shrugged. She leaned towards him with a small smile. "You know, he kind of looks like you. Or you look like him or something."

She had said that to him before. Chris turned from her, feeling his old exasperation returning – exasperation he always felt when she used her incredible observation against him. Sure, she was always teasing, but it had always annoyed him in the future, though he never thought less of her for it, because in a future like the one he had grown up in, that kind of annoyance made him feel like a normal boy with normal friends. So he found himself falling back on old habits. "Don't even start with _that_, Natalie. Telling me I look like _him_ would be like me telling you that you look like one of those LA supermodels who have no brains."

Natalie stared at Chris in amazement. Usually, when people stereotyped blondes like her in that way, it greatly offended her. But Chris had an edge in his tone that made it all right. They were both just teasing, and it wasn't meant to be offensive at all. She smiled again, and this time nothing about it was forced. "Excuse me?" Her tone was light and friendly. With all the stress Chris had been experiencing lately, a light and friendly attitude from someone directed towards him was incredibly addictive. He didn't want to give it up quite yet. He had always enjoyed Natalie's company, and this time, he enjoyed it more so than ever before. It was beyond refreshing. And despite everything he had told the sisters, he agreed with them in that he did need a break every once in awhile in order to keep some semblance of sanity.

"Hey," he held up his hands in defense. "Don't look at me like that. _You _started it."

"Yeah," she nodded slightly. "I guess I did."

OOOOOOOOO

The day passed by far too quickly, and night found Piper Halliwell standing in the front hall of the Manor with her sisters, Leo, and the two Cleaners. She was holding Wyatt protectively in her arms as she stared fearfully at the powerful, cleanly cut, and criminally stoic men.

"Please, he's just a baby. It won't happen again, I won't let it happen again!" Piper couldn't bear the thought of losing her baby boy.

"Sorry, we can't take that risk," one Cleaner told her in that calm voice she was growing to despise.

"Don't worry," the other added. "You won't remember any of this anyway."

OOOOOOOOO

"I can't believe we talked the entire day straight through," Natalie said in amazement as they sat together in Piper's now fully alive and somewhat crowded nightclub. She stared at Chris curiously. "I don't know. Somehow, it feels like you know me or something."

Chris shrugged. "It feels the same to me." Suddenly he could feel something flowing through him, and then out of him. They were memories… feelings… experiences… all of which were leaving him. Thoughts of Wyatt faded, and even thoughts of Bianca, who never would have been introduced to Chris if not for his older brother. Instead, Chris was left alone with memories of Natalie, and how he had thought he loved her when he had been sixteen years old. Some of those feelings suddenly intensified, and Chris found himself staring at a woman he didn't just consider a very good friend that he had finally found after years of separation, but a stunning woman he still found himself very much infatuated with.

Natalie was frowning. "I still can't see how you can possibly live here. What if you want to cash in early or something? Doesn't all the noise in here bother you when you're trying to sleep in that back room?"

Chris couldn't take his eyes off her. "Not really. You can't hear anything at all back there. Do you want me to show you?"

Natalie's eyes narrowed in confusion for a moment, but then they widened in surprise. She smiled and nodded, somewhat eagerly. Chris grinned, stood, moved over to her side of the booth and offered her a hand. She accepted it, and he led her towards the back room he had been living in.

OOOOOOOOOO

"_Moments lost make witches wonder, warlocks plot or demons plunder, if this is not a prank, help us to fill in the blanks."_

OOOOOOOOOO

Chris stared at Leo in an empty nightclub with clear disbelief written on his face. "You're kidding right? I don't have time for another charge."

OOOOOOOOOO

"Don't worry. You won't remember any of this anyway."

OOOOOOOOOO

"I can't believe we talked the entire day straight through."

OOOOOOOOOO

Piper glanced at her sisters. "Do you remember?"

Phoebe glanced back with a concerned, yet hopeful expression on her face. "Absolutely everything."

OOOOOOOOOO

"You will give me my son back," Piper told the Cleaners some time later after the sisters had managed to catch their attention. "Or I swear to you the only thing you'll be doing for the next fifty years is cleaning up after us."

The first Cleaner regarded Piper coldly. "If we do return him, how do you know you'll be able to control him?"

Piper glared at the Cleaner with equal coolness. "I'm his mother. If anybody can, I can."

OOOOOOOOOO

Chris and Natalie were sitting in the back room on the bed Chris had called his own for the last several weeks. They were holding each other tenderly, as they kissed, getting to know each other in ways Leo had never once predicted.

But as they did so, memories of Wyatt slowly returned to each of them. Not that either one of them were thinking of Wyatt at that moment, but with those memories there also came, at least to Chris, memories of Bianca. And those were the memories that pushed their way up to Chris's mind.

Realization of what he was doing suddenly struck out at him, and Chris instantly recoiled. He pushed far away from Natalie, jumping to his feet and backing away from his bed as he stared at her in disbelief. What the _hell_ had happened?

Natalie looked at Chris in confusion. "What's the matter?"

Chris was slowly shaking his head as images of Bianca poured into his mind's sight. "This is a mistake."

The beautiful woman sitting on his bed looked up at him, slightly hurt. "I'm sorry." Her voice was soft and regretful. "But I… I think you're right." She stood and made for the door leading back into the nightclub. She stopped only once to glance over her shoulder. "It was nice talking to you today Chris. I still find it hard to believe… You just seemed to know me so well. I'll talk to Leo. I'm sure we can find a way to work this thing out."

Chris nodded sadly. He watched in complete misery as Natalie turned and left. He told himself it was for the best. He had lost her once in the future when a demon had finally managed to kill her. Just as he had lost his mother to a demon. And for the same reason he couldn't get close to his mother, he sternly told himself that getting close to Natalie again would be a very, very bad idea.

He unhappily collapsed onto his bed, picturing Bianca in his mind again. He felt terribly sick as he realized what had almost happened… How he had almost betrayed the woman he had loved. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Tears formed in his eyes as he repeated that over and over again. How had so much slipped from his mind? Wyatt… his mission… Bianca…? He was slipping… he was risking complete failure. And he couldn't bear the thought of that.

His tears fell down his face and he continued to cry until sleep completely overtook him.

OOOOOOOOOO

Morning came too soon. As Chris sat in a chair, tightening the laces on his shoes that he had never gotten around to taking off before he went to sleep last night, he felt his earlier feelings of misery transforming into bitterness and disgust. Those feelings intensified when he saw the blue white light of orbs appear not too far away.

Leo was here. He looked down at the boy without any show of approval. "Hey."

Chris sat up and stared at his father. His father, who he could not stand. It was all he could do to hold in his anger. "Hey. I didn't know you were coming here."

"What are you still doing here, Chris? Shouldn't you be getting to know your new charge?" Leo asked in a calm voice that had only a hint of resent in it.

"Yeah, about that," Chris stood and faced his father squarely. As much as Natalie's friendship mattered to him, what mattered even more was his mission. He had to focus on Wyatt.

Besides, if he was successful here, in the future maybe Natalie would survive, and _then_ their friendship could continue. But for now, he couldn't forget Bianca, and he couldn't allow himself to grow attached to _anyone_ who he could suddenly lose.

"I'm… going back to what I originally said," Chris told Leo. "I don't have time for her."

"Chris," Leo shook his head as frustration flowed back into both his voice and his expression. It bordered on disappointment, which Chris recognized all too well from his childhood in the future. Recognized, dreaded, and despised.

"Leo, I mean it," Chris quickly cut in, not wanting to allow his father to keep pushing him towards a reaction that he would really have a hard time coming back from. "Because whether you believe me or not, I'm here to protect Wyatt, not other charges. Other than the sisters, of course."

Leo considered Chris for a moment, then nodded. So this strategy wasn't going to work. Instead of wasting time trying to force it to, he'd just have to find another way of getting inside Chris's head to discover what secrets the boy was keeping. "If that's how you feel about it, I guess I'll reassign her."

Chris nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you." Leo nodded curtly and orbed out of Chris's room.

Left alone again, Chris reached into his pant pocket and pulled a small object out from it. Opening his hand in front of him, Chris stared down at a tiny silver ring. It rested on his palm, sparkling almost magically in his dimly lit room.

Bianca. As Chris thought about her, he felt once again slightly sick as he remembered what had happened last night. "I'm sorry." He swore it would never happen again. Bianca was the only woman he loved. The only woman he would _ever_ love.

"I'll never forget you, Bianca. And I hope you'll forgive me." He placed the ring back into his pocket, and felt tears forming in his eyes once again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


End file.
